COMMEMORATING today the tenth anniversary of the Founding Conference at Quebec in
October 1954, the speakers look forward as much as they recall the past, for this is a
dynamic organization. The speakers are from widely separated parts of the world. They do
not speak for countries or regions; rather from their personal experience of the cur rents
of world affairs into which they helped to launch FAO. Many Member States have held
suitable national observances and have sent congratulatory messages which the
Director-General has the pleasure of acknowledging on behalf of the Conference and the
staff.

After service in First World War entered law practice in Garden City, Kansas, U.S.A.
Member Kansas House of Representatives from 1920 to 1926 when he was elected to Federal
Congress in which he has served ever since. Has been a member or chairman of a number of
Congressional committees including the House Committee on Agriculture, on which he has
served since 1926. A member of the U.S. delegation to the founding Conference Session of
FAO as also to the Conference Sessions of 1946, 1949 and 1951. Has taken part in the
formulation and enactment of all agricultural legislation passed during his term of
service. In 1946 awarded the American Farm Bureau award for distinguished and meritorious
service in the interest of organized agriculture.

ANDRÉ MAYER

Member, French delegation to Disarmament Conferences of Washington in 1921 and Geneva
in 1922 and 1932. Member, Commission for Food and Health of the League of Nations in 1935.
In 1943, French representative at the Hot Springs Conference and then a member of the
Interim Commission. In 1943 also a member of the Preparatory Commission of UNRRA and of
the French delegation to the Conference. In 1944, member, UNRRA Commission Public Health
and Agriculture and president, Committee on Social Studies. In 1945, alternate to leader
of the French delegation to FAO's founding Conference and elected president of Executive
Committee in which role he later negotiated the Agreement between the United Nations and
FAO. President, the FAO Conference in 1950. Member of the Institut and Professor of the
Collège de France.

The International Political World

The Economic World

CLIFFORD R. HOPE

THIS is an historic. You have conferred a great honor upon me in asking me to speak. My
appreciation is tempered by the knowledge that there are many here who are much better
qualified for this assignment shall am I. However, I am sure there are none who feel the
significance of this meeting more deeply than I do.

In my lifetime I have been associated with many organizations, but with none in which I
have felt a more sincere interest or a greater appreciation of its activities than FAO.
For in FAO we have an organization which deal.) with the very fundamentals of life and
which concerns the interest and well-being of every human being. The very fact that 71
sovereign nations are now members and active participants in FAO locals this out.

We are here to review what has been done in the past ten years, to look upon the
staggering tasks which lie ahead and to reconsecrate ourselves to electing the challenge
of hunger and the problems of farmers wherever they may exist.

For FAO is now an organization with a record and a past on which it must be judged. Ten
years ago we could say: here is a job to hi clone; this is how we propose to do it. Now we
must account for what we have done and what we have failed to do. We must assess our
mistakes as well as our successes and, most important of all, we must plan for the future
and decide where and how fast we go from herd.

Although it may be an unusual procedure, I would like to state some conclusions before
I even discuss the evidence on which they are based. First, FAO has been fortunate in its
leadership. By this I mean not only the leadership furnished by the past and present
Directors-General and their staffs, but that of those who conceived the organization in
the first place, as well as of those who have determined the policies formulated in its
general sessions from time to time. Second, that no international organization has done a
more competent job in the field assigned to it. Third, that in no governmental field,
national or international, is so much good being accomplished with the expenditure of so
little money.

Before proceeding further, may I make it clear that I am of course speaking today for
myself and not for my government or as representing any area or region.

That in using the terms " food " and " agriculture " I include
non-food agricultural products as well as forestry and fishing.

That while I have been assigned the subject of " The Economic Aspects of FAO in a
Changing World, " with other speakers discussing its political and social aspects,
that in any discussion of food and agriculture from either a national or international
standpoint it is impossible to absolutely separate the question into political, economic
and social segments. They are bound to overlap. I shall of course confine myself to
economic matters as far as possible.

My first connection with FAO was at the Quebec meeting where the organization was
formally set up. I have attended most of the conferences since that time.

I have been somewhat familiar with proceedings at the Hot Springs meeting and with the
work of the Interim Commission which did such a splendid job in laying the foundations for
the Quebec meeting when FAO actually came into being. No one who knows anything about the
work which preceded the Quebec meeting can help but be impressed by the thought and study
as well as the high purpose which inspired this organization.

As Gove Hambidge well says in his most excellent book, The Story of FAO: " It
would be hard to find an organization more carefully and painstakingly prepared for than
FAO. "

Although the Hot Springs meeting was held in the midst of the war, and the work of the
Interim Commission was carried out under all the stress and strain as well as the
uncertainties of the period, it is quite apparent that the farsighted men who planned FAO
had a pretty good idea of the economic conditions, with respect to food and agriculture,
which might be expected to prevail during the years immediately after the war. They
foresaw the problems and although some of these problems have proven greater, and some
less, than might have been anticipated ten years ago, all of them were included within the
scope of activities of the organization. Article I of the Constitution of FAO, which sets
out the functions of the organization, succinctly states the recommendations embraced in
the Fifth Report of the Interim Commission entitled The Work of FAO.

These functions are divided into three groups. The first relates to the collection,
analysis, interpretation and dissemination of information relating to nutrition, food and
agriculture. The second function deals with the promotion and recommendation of national
and international action with respect to research and education relating to nutrition,
food and agriculture. the conservation of natural resources and the adoption of improved
methods of agricultural production, the improvement of the processing, marketing, and
distribution of food and agricultural products, the adoption of policies for adequate
agricultural credit, national and international, and the adoption of international
policies with respect to agricultural commodity arrangements. The third function relates
to technical assistance and missions as might be requested by governments. Progress in
these there fields has varied.

I shall not dwell long on the excellent statistical and information activities of FAO.
Its steady expansion, its accuracy and timeliness must commend it to everyone who has need
of this information. This applies not only to material collected and published by FAO
itself, but equally to the improvement and expansion of statistical methods and services
employed by governments. I am sure that the progress made in this field meets the
expectations and hopes of those who planned this organization.

Nor shall I devote much time to the technical co-operation program. This does not mean
that I do not think the subject is worthy of attention, rather it means that the program
has been so outstandingly successful, and its merits are so well known, that it does not
require a long discussion by me.

Technical co-operation did not begin with FAO nor does it end there. In one form or
another many programs of technical assistance have been carried out not only as
governmental enterprises but as private activities. My own country for several years has
had its Point Four program of technical assistance and co-operation set up on a much
larger scale than the modest activities of FAO. The Colombo Plan for co-operative economic
development in south and southeast Asia is a gigantic program of technical and financial
co-operation. Other nations than the United States are working along the lines of
technical co-operation in other countries than their own, but technical cooperation as
carried out by FAO has set the pattern for activities of this kind. In spite of the
comparatively small amount of money involved, its activities cover more territory, have a
wider and more varied scope and have aroused interest and enthusiasm far beyond the
programs carried out by any individual government or other groups of governments. But
whether the project is a veterinary program in Ethiopia, fish culture in Haiti, a hybrid
corn program embracing 24 countries in Europe and the Middle East, sheep improvement in
Ecuador, locust control in the Middle East or forestry in Brazil, it is a program marked
everywhere by success.

The last figures I have indicate that there are now 58 countries included in this
program. It is a program to which every Member Nation has made some contribution. The
greater number of technicians have of course come from the countries most advanced in
agriculture but almost every nation has something to contribute in the way of specialized
knowledge. Furthermore it is a program of real co-operation because every recipient
country must literally give more than it receives through the contributions which it makes
to the program itself and in making the results available to its own people.

I suppose it is impossible to say how much the technical co-operation projects of FAO
have contributed to the expansion of agricultural production during the past ten years,
but when we consider that it is possible to double the production of some agricultural
areas through the use of improved small tools, or the intelligent use of insecticides, or
better land use, and when one considers that the effects of these activities are
cumulative, we know that these projects will continue to make a tremendous contribution to
improved world food supplies, particularly in the areas where they are most needed.

If FAO had clone absolutely nothing during the past ten years except to sponsor and
carry out technical assistance programs, it would be justified from an economic standpoint
many times over, to say nothing of the effect it has had on political and social
conditions.

Once in a while I hear the statement made that with our surplus problem in agriculture
we should reduce the technical co-operation programs. Nothing, it seems to me, would be
more foolish. Whatever surpluses we may have are not because we are producing more food
than the world needs' rather they are the results of mar-distribution. Furthermore most
technical assistance programs are being carried out in non-surplus areas and do not
contribute directly to surpluses and in most cases not even indirectly.

Even in my country with its large accumulation of agricultural surpluses we are
spending more money than ever in government and private agricultural research and
education. We are doing this because we believe that anything which brings about a more
efficient agriculture is helpful to our nation and the world.

Certainly with a world population increase amounting to an estimated 100,000 per day
this is no time to talk about slowing down world agricultural production.

What is being accomplished by research, education and technical co-operation however
indicates that we have done much towards solving the problem of agricultural production.
The great question which confronts FAO and the producers and the consumers of agricultural
products is mal-distribution and under-consumption.

The decade covered by the life of FAO has witnessed a dramatic transformation from
famine and threats of famine during the immediate postwar years to the current situation
of agricultural surpluses in a number of countries. However, even with these surpluses
countries millions of the world's people still remain inadequately fed, poorly clothed and
ill-housed. It is this paradox of surpluses and shortages that offers the great challenge
to FAO and its Member Governments today. In some countries we find agricultural surpluses
and undernourished people existing side by side.

What is the answer to this problem? Well, first-think we must realize that there will
probably he surpluses as long as there is under-consumption, by which I mean a lack of
buying power on the part of consumers to purchase the world's full agricultural
production. This means that expanded production alone will not solve the problem. There
must be increased buying power brought about through industrialization and fair wages.

Industrialization is necessary also to absorb surplus labor from the farms in backward
countries In many of these countries farms are so small that widespread rural unemployment
is inevitable.

Our most serious problem, as I see it, is no longer the production, but the exchange
and distribution of food. To state it in another way, the farmers of the world are capable
now of producing more food than the world's population can buy at prices which are
reasonably stable and remunerative to producers.

Thus while we must continue the very successful technical co-operation program which
has been the outstanding feature of FAO in the past ten years, in the years immediately
ahead the major emphasis should be on the fundamental economics involved in the
distribution of food.

One principle which was enunciated by those who planned FAO was that the interests of
producers and consumers were mutual. Sometimes this is realized and sometimes it is not.
The proposition is well stated in the final report of the Interim Commission as follows:

"The exploitation of producers as a group will not ill the long run benefit
consumers, nor, in the long run, will it benefit producers, if consumers as a group are
put at a disadvantage. Wherever the contrary seems to be true, it is because all of the
factors have not been taken into account, including the risk of social upheavals and wars.
There is always a larger framework in which producer and consumer interests are seen to be
the same. It will be the business of FAO to seek and to emphasize this larger framework
this whole view, as a basis for the reconciliation of differences and for progress toward
freedom from want and higher levels of living for all."

In my own country those of us who recall the depression of the early 1930's remember we
had our longest breadlines during a time of agricultural surpluses when farmers' prices
dropped to almost nothing.

In past years and particularly during the period when food shortages were acute in many
parts of the world, FAO gave consideration to the idea of an international organization
which would facilitate the distribution of agricultural commodities in the world market.
Among these was the world Food Board proposed by Sir John Boyd Orr. Another was the
International Commodity Clearing House proposed by Norris E. Dodd after he became
Director-General. Both of these proposals, as well as others somewhat akin, were rejected
by FAO, hut the matter of a better world distribution of food is not dead by any means; it
will not die, and must continue to be the subject of consideration.

The earlier proposals, made at a time when shortages welt a greater problem than
surpluses, were pushed by some of the deficit countries. Now with a considerably changed
situation surplus producing countries are showing a greater interest. The question turns
on whether these matters should be handled by an international organization or whether the
interest of all would not be better promoted through unified action by individual nations
under the leadership of FAO.

What I have been saying indicates that in the decade ahead the program of activities of
FAO must give increased attention to:

(1) Programs which protect and improve the income of farmers at times when they succeed
in producing more products than can be distributed through commercial channels at
reasonably stable prices, and which encourage farmers in their technical progress in
production while the nations search for means to deliver sufficient food to the millions
who are now ill-fed.

(2) Programs directed toward cost reductions both in production and distribution to
permit lower food prices to consumers. The need for improved food marketing services is
worldwide. In many under-developed countries opportunities are tremendous. Recently I
proposed that in our own country we should set up a new agency in the Department of
Agriculture for the purpose of furnishing technical assistance in the field of better
utilization and consumption of surplus food products. I believe there is a field for a
concentrated effort along those lines in the United States? and certainly in many of the
undeveloped countries there is an even greater need for assistance of this kind.

(3) Co-operation with other United Nations agencies in general economic development
programs to increase the purchasing power of people now hungry. It is basic to our
conception of the purpose of FAO and other United Nations agencies, that their programs
help the Member Nations increase their opportunities to help themselves.

(4) Programs to improve the economic opportunities for those who art not needed on
farms as labor-saving techniques are adopted.

It is obvious that most of the programs which I have just discussed are essentially
domestic programs which will have to be carried out by governmental policy in the various
countries. However it is equally obvious that these policies can be successful! only where
there is international cooperation. Otherwise the programs of one nation might hamper or
destroy what is being done in another.

That is where FAO comes in. Its mission must be very largely the role of a planner and
coordinator lending helpful co-operation and encouragement to the efforts of the various
Member Nations to work together in harmonizing their various food and agricultural
programs.

The principles of surplus disposal recommended by FAO recently and adopted and accepted
by the governments of 35 Member Nations is an example of what I have in mind.

And now to conclude. After ten years of FAO, much remains to be done. I doubt if the
work of FAO will ever be finished. But we can say fairly and truthfully that because of
FAO there is less hunger in the world, that world agriculture is more efficient and that
there is a wider understanding of the problems involved in the distribution of
agricultural commodities in international trade.

In spite of the cold war, and the threat of the atomic bomb and all of the other
problems confronting US now, a child born anywhere in the world today faces an infinitely
brighter future than one born ten years ago. The answer to the atomic bomb is more
understanding, more co-operation, more tolerance between nations and their people. No
other agency in the world today deals with subjects of greater interest to humanity than
those which come within the scope of FAO, or has greater opportunities for bringing about
a better understanding between the various nations of the world and their people.

Two thousand years ago this great city where we are meeting today was the governmental,
military and commercial center of the civilized world. It was a world of peace but of a
peace maintained by force. The legions of Rome were everywhere, from far-off Britain to
the borders of India. The whole world paid tribute to the Roman state. Roman law was in
force in every civilized area. The glory of Imperial Rome of those days has long been
recited in song and story.

That glory is gone forever, but here in the Rome of today is an organization with a new
glory, worldwide in scope and reaching into areas not even dreamed of by Caesar Augustus.

Through FAO Rome is again a world center. Here campaigns are being planned, not against
nations and people, but against hunger and want and distress. Here ammunition in the way
of statistical, economic and technical information is being prepared and accumulated for
use wherever needed in these campaigns.

From FAO as from the Rome of old go emissaries to the farthest corners of the earth.
These emissaries are not military legions or enforcers of the Roman law or tax collectors.
They are bearers of light, missionaries of mercy, carrying a message of hope to the hungry
and those in need everywhere. They are teachers who bring to the peoples of the
underdeveloped countries the secrets and mysteries which have been revealed by
agricultural research in every part of the world. They bring the practical know-how which
makes possible the application of this knowledge to meet human wants and needs everywhere.
This is FAO after its first decade.

What it will be during the decades ahead depends on how well we meet our
responsibilities during this Session and in the future. But with ten years of such
glorious history behind us who can doubt the certainty of an even more glorious future.

TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF FAO

The Eighth Session of the Conference adopted by acclamation

RESOLUTION No. 1

TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF FAO

On the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the foundation of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations.

The Member Nations of the Organization, assembled at Rome for the Eighth Session of the
Conference,

Considering that the Organization has effectively contributed towards a wider knowledge
and the solution of the food and agriculture problems of the world;

that the experience of the past ten-year period has fully demonstrated the usefulness
of international co-operation in the solution of those problems;

that it is desirable for such co-operation to be prolonged so that adequate levels of
nutrition may be attained, and better standards of living may prevail, by means of
increased production and consumption of agricultural products, through their better
distribution and an increase in the purchasing power of peoples;

Ratify their accession to the purposes and principles laid down in the Constitution of
the Organization.

MESSAGE FROM FORMER INDEPENDENT CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF FAO

Letter

On the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of FAO I send you my congratulations on what
has been achieved and my best wishes for the future.

At the time of its creation I felt FAO was the most imaginative concept for the
maintenance of peace and the happiness and well-being of man that emerged from the war. I
still hold that view. It is my earnest hope that it will go forward with ever increasing
strength to the realization of its great ideals.

BRUCE OF MELBOURNE

MESSAGEE FROM MEMBER STATES

At its twenty-first Session the Council of FAO recalled that that on 16 October 1955
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations would have completed its first
decade of growth and accomplishment.

It recommended to all Member States that they consider organizing in their countries,
at the appropriate time during the anniversary year, observances which will mark this
historic occasion and bring the work of the Organization to the widest public knowledge.
Member States were invited to transmit brief messages suitable to the occasion to the
Conference, to become a par of the record of that anniversary Session.

The Council requested the Director-General to bring these recommendations to the
attention of Member States, together with such statements on accomplishments of FAO and
suggestions for national observances as he might deem appropriate.

As a result of the Council's recommendation, the following messages from Member States
were received.

During the Third FAO Conference (1947) Austria was admitted by unanimous vote as a
Member State of FAO. This decision was highly appreciated by the Austrian Government. The
Austrian people gratefully noticed that our country-in spite of the status of
occupation-was recognized as a sovereign nation and as a member of FAO enjoyed the same
rights as other independent nations. In the period of economic distress inflicted upon
Austria as an effect of the second world war Austria received from FAO considerable
assistance which contributed to the success of our efforts to regain economic stability.
Three instances of this help may be quoted as examples. During the period of severe famine
which occurred after the war FAO was instrumental in securing the necessary food supplies.
By granting technical assistance and FAO contributed greatly to the reconstruction of
Austrian forestry and wood industry which is one of the main assets of Austrian economy
and which at that period was very near to a complete breakdown. Another very important
branch of Austrian agriculture, namely animal husbandry and the related dairy industry was
aided by FAO through improvements of the Austrian veterinary service. Austria is convinced
that the best way of returning thanks to FAO is declaring and proving her readiness and
her goodwill to co-operate as effectively as possible with FAO in attaining the targets of
the Organization which are fully endorsed in Austria.

In view of the Tenth Anniversary of FAO's foundation it is Austria's hope and sincere
desire that FAO will he able to realize fully its high ideals and that all nations of the
world will benefit from the motto: "With FAO towards Freedom from Want. "

The Government of the Union of Burma offers its felicitations to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the successful completion of ten years
of valuable work.

During the past decade of its life, the Organization has worked assiduously for the
common good of mankind in the spheres of food and agriculture, including forestry and
fisheries. By its guidance and by its technical assistance, the Organization has
contributed, in no small measure, to improvement in the production of food and
agricultural products in the world and thereby helped in overcoming the shortage which
marked the years following the last world war. The Organization has also been able to pay
due attention to areas where its activities are most needed.

The problems of the future, before the Organization, are no less difficult than those
of the past ten years. While it has been possible to lay bases for improvement of
production, the problems of improving distribution and consumption will, nevertheless,
call for the utmost efforts on the part of the Organization and its Member Nations.
Inasmuch as the achievement of the aim of the Organization to raise the levels of
nutrition and standards of living of the peoples of the world will depend also on
improvement in the distribution and consumption of food and agricultural products, a
greater emphasis will no doubt have to be laid on these aspects of the work of the
Organization.

The Union of Burma, as a Member Nation, recalls with satisfaction that she has been
able to take an active part in the work of the Organization, in its deliberations as well
as in the field, and looks forward with keen interest to further participation in the
future.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA

CANADA

Letter

Ten years ago the Food and Agriculture Organization came into being at Quebec City. It
was the first of the United Nations Specialized Agencies to be formed. Recently at Quebec,
representatives of Canada and the United States met jointly to recognize the Tenth
Anniversary of that event and to unveil in the Chateau Frontenac, site of the 1945
meeting, a plaque commemorating the founding of FAO.

As host that first Conference and a firm supporter of the work of FAO during the
intervening year, the Canadian Government is pleased to join with other nations now
assembled in Rome in extending greetings to the Organization on the completion of its
first ten year of service to mankind.

In this period great progress has been made in the production of agricultural, fishery
and forestry products. Consumption has recovered from wartime levels and in many countries
has been improved. To this improvement FAO has contributed in substantial measure. Its
contribution has been made possible through the efforts of an able headquarters staff and
a field force of well-qualified technical assistance experts who have brought their
knowledge to the problems confronting many countries.

The Organization has provided a forum for 71 nations searching for satisfactory
solutions to the economic, social and physical problems arising out of shortages and
surpluses. Perhaps of greater importance, it has fostered an exchange of views among
nations which has led to mutual understanding and good-will.

While we may take satisfaction from past achievements, it is much more important to
look ahead to the next ten years. This Conference should be considered an occasion fat
stocktaking and forward thinking by FAO and Member Nations.

It is the conviction of the Government of Canada that FAO, with the support of its many
member countries, should continue its efforts on behalf of producers and consumers
everywhere to the end that the ever-increasing requirements of a growing world population
may be satisfactorily met.

L. B. PEARSONSecretary of State for External Affairs

CEYLON

Letter

It gives me great pleasure to send a message of greeting and congratulation to the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the completion of the first decade
of its inauguration, growth and accomplishment. The avowed aims of the Organization,
founded in Quebec, Canada in 1945, have been realized to a remarkable degree during the
short period of its existence. The laudable objective for which FAO has been created, viz.
to raise the living standards of the " needy people of the world by helping them to
help themselves" has been to a large extent realized; and the world, which at the
start of this Organization was in a desperate condition so far as its food resources were
concerned, has now, thanks to the effort of the peoples of the world, their governments
and of FAO, produced food in abundance even exceeding its pre-war output.

The world cannot, however, afford to slacken its efforts in this direction because of
the spectre of an increasing population, particularly in the under-developed areas of the
world. By co-ordinated and effective action, aided by the intelligence service, research
units, and technical assistance which FAO has set out to furnish, the world can however
continue to stage its victory over hunger and misery which threatened to wipe out masses
of humanity in the immediate years subsequent to the war. I have no doubt that FAO with
its well-organized service will be ready to meet any emergency in the future, if we are to
judge by the benefits which the Expanded Technical Assistance Program has conferred on my
own country. I would here acknowledge my gratitude to the Organization for its ready
response to our requests for technical aid, in all fields of activity, which it has been
called upon to supply, whether in the fields of agriculture, animal husbandry,
engineering, forestry, nutrition, or fisheries. We look forward to an even greater measure
of co-operation between this Government and FAO in respect of technical assistance in the
future. We hope that in the years to come our Island will be of some assistance to other
less developed countries in promoting their betterment and agricultural development in
fields of activity where our nationals can make their contribution.

May FAO continue to flourish and to dedicate its services to mankind in the spirit of
its past endeavours and achievements, and with increasing hope for the future.

The year of 1955 marks the Tenth Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations. This affords me the welcome opportunity of expressing to you the
Danish view of the progress so far achieved by the Organization.

Through the establishment of FAO, not only an organization was created for spreading
knowledge of agricultural and nutritional conditions of all countries, but also a forum
for considering the agricultural problems of economic, social and political character, the
solution of which is of importance to international co-operation.

The marketing conditions of agricultural products on the world market are of decisive
importance to Danish agriculture as well as to the Danish economy as a whole, and
therefore, since the establishment of FAO, Denmark has expected great things from the work
and achievements of that Organization.

These expectations have borne and still bear the stamp of the experience of the 1930's
when Denmark and other countries - were hard hit by the international agricultural crisis.

The disparity between the actual marketing conditions and the great uncovered demand
for foodstuffs added to the interest in international co-operation aiming at improving the
state of nutrition, at creating more stable economic conditions and, consequently, better
outlet possibilities for agricultural products.

It seems to us that the achievements of FAO for furthering the production of foodstuffs
in technically under-developed countries have made good. The demand for continuing and
expanding the work is still great, and Denmark follows with great interest the development
within that field.

The more difficult outlet conditions and the problems of the surplus stocks of recent
years, have resulted in active efforts on the part of FAO for contributing to better
co-ordination of the agricultural policies of the countries. Denmark considers that
extremely important and therefore has seconded it with interest.

The work of improving the agricultural production and the conditions of life may
contribute towards levelling out the current social and economic disparities and in the
long run may serve to strengthen peace.

The achievements of FAO depend on the active will and ability of the member countries
to participate in the work of the Organization. The foundation has been laid through the
activity of the first ten years, when not only it has been attempted to solve great and
important tasks, but within a number of fields a solid pioneer work has been carried out,
which work is of significance to the future achievements of the Organization.

I wish to assure you that also in the future Denmark will continue with lively interest
to participate in and follow the far-reaching work commenced.

On the Tenth Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
the Finnish Government sends its sincere greetings and best wishes to the Organization.
The valuable assistance FAO has given Finland during these years is deeply appreciated.
May the work of the Organization continue to increase the friendly co-operation between
the nations.

URHO KEKKONENPrime Minister of Finland

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

Letter

On the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the foundation of FAO I wish to offer my v
cry sincere congratulations.

In pursuing its aims, your Organization has made valuable contributions toward the
development of agriculture and the improvement of living standards among the nations of
the world, which will assure FAO in the future, as it has in the past, an important
position among the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations. The Government of the
German Federal Republic will continue to do its best in supporting the beneficial work of
FAO.